News

In Grozny, sapper units of the MIA and other law-enforcement departments have completed an operation of neutralizing a car stuffed with explosive, in which a terrorist-suicide bomber tried to make a terror act against President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and deputy of Russian State Duma Adam Delimkhanov.

Ombudsman Armen Arutyunyan has prepared a new report on the events on March 1, 2008. The document deals with the litigations held against the people arrested on charges of organizing mass disorders.

The Investigatory Department for Ingushetia of the ICPO has initiated a criminal case on the fact of plundering budgetary funds of the republic's Ministry of Finance and Ingush branch of the Savings Bank.

Vladimir Churov, head of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Russia, said that he would not advise anybody to challenge the outcomes of the elections in the Urus-Martan district capital of Chechnya. According to his story, he would order a funeral wreath to the one who would dare to do it.

The Department for Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that it would consider the requests of two Georgian journalists on granting political asylum to them with account of the situation with the freedom of mass media in Georgia.

On October 22, the Astrakhan Regional Duma held an expanded sitting initiated by the faction of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party to discuss the situation in the city after election of the city Mayor. At the same time, in the Savushkina Street the opposition held their non-sanctioned action.

On October 21, a public campaign "For capital repairs of the militia" was launched in Russia with the aim to impel the federal authorities to seriously and immediately start radically reforming the country's law-enforcement bodies.

The two guys and two girls, liquidated on October 22 in the course of a special operation, held in the Oktiabrskiy District of Chechen capital, were hiding in the house, where a small facility for manufacturing explosives was organized. This was reported by local power agencies.

A criminal case has been initiated in Adygea against four inmates of one of local corrective colonies accused of violent actions applied to employees of the establishment.

As reported by a source from the Investigatory Department for Ingushetia of the Russian ICPO (Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office), on October 22 in the village of Plievo unidentified persons shot dead a lady who owned a small shop, where alcohol was sold.

The broadly covered rallies of the opposition held during spring and summer in Georgia, had been pre-planned well in advance by the government of the republic with the aim to "let off steam" of negative energy of the population and show everybody that the opposition is impotent. This is the opinion of Georgiy Gachechiladze, leader of the Party of "Greens" of Georgia.

In the opinion of the political scientist Dmitri Oreshkin, the statement, disseminated just a couple of hours ago that "the Confederation of Nations of the Caucasus has recognized independence of Chechnya and Ingushetia," will not be the last of this sort in the course of the events taking place now in Northern Caucasus.

Russian human rights activists Liudmila Alekseeva, Sergey Kovalyov and Oleg Orlov, representing the Human Rights Society "Memorial", were awarded by the European Parliament the prize named after Andrei Sakharov for the "freedom of thought". This news was announced by Jerzy Buzek, Chairman of the European Parliament, at today's session in Strasbourg.

The result of today's session on the claim lodged by Sergey Novikov, director of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Information-Analytical Centre" (MUE "IAC"), against the Novorossisk Committee on Human Rights (NCHR) on defence of his honour, dignity and business reputation was refusal of the court to consider the case because of clarification of circumstances and Mr Novikov's confession about his deal with the local prosecutor's office. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Vadim Karastelyov, an expert of the NCHR.

Today in North Ossetia, local MPs have passed a bill "On Measures to Protect Children's Morals and Health", which in fact introduces a "curfew" for children and teenagers of this republic.

Four militants-suicide bombers who "planned to commit a series of terror acts by blowing themselves up" were killed today during a special operation in the Oktiabrskiy District of Grozny, as reported by President Ramzan Kadyrov. His Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reports that one militiaman was lost.

The situation with the freedom of mass media in Georgia has improved; and in the rating of the international NGO "Reporters without Borders" (RwB) the country "has stepped up" by 39 positions and now takes the 81st place.

Experts of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of Russia who came in mid-September to Chechnya for demining local farmland have cleared over 35 hectares of arable area.

Today, at the litigation on the case of Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of the daily oppositional newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Time), Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan, who is chairing the trial, rejected the petition of the defence challenging the public prosecutor Koryun Piloyan.

Tomorrow, on October 22, the Oktiabrskiy Court of Novorossisk will consider the claim of Sergey Novikov, Director of Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Information-Analytical Centre" (MUE "IAC") against the Novorossisk Committee for Human Rights (NCHR) on defence of his honour, dignity and business reputation. This was reported by Vadim Karastelyov, expert of the NCHR.